Urban Butcher: Best Cured Meats and So Much More

What do you get when you combine a butcher shop and curing cellar with a trendy, modern restaurant? You get the amazing Urban Butcher. Located at 8226 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, MD, they prepare all their meats in-house and we were completely blown away by the ones we got the chance to try. The staff was super friendly, knowledgeable about the menu, and helpful, which made the whole experience smooth and effortless.

First up, we got a round of cocktails, and wow! These were honestly some of the best tasting cocktails we’ve had in recent memory. The one pictured above and the two pictured below are off the happy hour menu and you seriously need to try them all. The MoCo Mule (above) is vodka and house ginger beer, which was crazy refreshing. The Lavender Margarita (below) was full of flavor (you can definitely taste the lavender) and a bit tart, paying homage to its margarita roots. Finally, the Boulevardier, consisting of rye, aperol, and dolin’s sweet, was like a Manhattan, but smoother and a bit sweeter.

Then, to start off our food journey, we got the Chef’s Board. The first part of it that came out was the House Cured Ham. We were basically speechless after our first bite. You don’t need bread or anything else to go along with it. It’s literally perfect on its own. Just the right amount of saltiness and it straight up melted in our mouths.

And just as we were finishing up the ham, the rest of the board was delivered to the table. We thought that we weren’t necessarily big fans of cured meats, but our minds changed almost immediately. Our favorites were definitely the diablo, gouda cheese, and the lamb. The diablo packed a bit of a kick, which was a pleasant surprise!

After you demolished the board, we got a little break from the meats with the tuna seviche, which was made with tobiko wasabi and ginger. The plating in the jar over ice was a unique touch, and there was more in there than we initially thought!

And then back to the meat! The next dish we got to try was the Lamb Tartare with Moroccan Spices. This was so cool because we had never had lamb tartare before. Beef, sure, but the lamb had a whole different flavor to it. And when it was combined with the hummus and grilled flat bread it was super bomb. Not to mention the texture of the bread added some crispiness that complimented the hummus and lamb really well.

The Beef Empanadas came after that, and they were crazy delicious. Perfect, flaky outside with hearty, flavorful beef on the inside. So. Much. Nom.

Taking another break from the amazing meat dishes, we got to try their incredible Truffle Mac & Cheese. The taste caught us both by surprise in the best way possible. Having eaten a TON of mac and cheese throughout our lives, we had this preconceived idea of what it should taste like once we took a bite, but our taste buds were hit with the combination of cheese and truffle and we couldn’t stop talking about it the rest of the night. It’ll probably catch you off guard, too, but you won’t regret ordering it.

Our main course was the out-of-this-world Beef Tenderloin, which was pan roasted & basted with butter alongside a loaded baked potato. This was so good it was kind of insane. The beef was cooked medium rare to rare, and completely melted in our mouths. The baked potato was the perfect side to go along with it. If you can eat a lot you can probably take this dish on solo, but if you’re having some appetizers and sides before the main course, we would recommend sharing this one.

Here’s a closeup of the baked potato to get your mouth watering.

Finally, for dessert we had their freshly homemade donuts topped with sugar and a side of Nutella whip. First off, can we just say that the donuts were warm and utterly amazing when they came out. Then adding the Nutella (because Nutella makes everything better) made this the best way to end this delicious meal.

We highly recommend you look up Urban Butcher and get over there STAT! The quality of the meats and everything else there is amazing and you’ll be more than satisfied with every fork full. Till next time, Nomsters!